Queen's Play - Dorothy Dunnett [177]
‘Good God!’ said O’LiamRoe, taken unawares.
‘Quite. At the head of it will be our good Marquis of Northampton. And in the large and glittering train will travel the Earl and Countess of Lennox. They are due at Châteaubriant on the 19th of June; and before the end of their stay, they will request the hand of Mary of Scotland for their King.
‘… But since,’ the light voice continued, forestalling O’LiamRoe’s openmouthed intervention, ‘since Queen Mary is affianced to the Dauphin of France, and no French party has so far appeared strong enough to break the betrothal, the King of France will with sorrow refuse and will offer his daughter Elizabeth instead. It is as well,’ said Lymond, ‘to have all this quite clear. Because the murder of Mary with a hint even of English backing would burst asunder all these beautiful overtures of friendship between England and France. You might even expect France, if sufficiently piqued, to be ready to stir up trouble in Ireland again. In which case Cormac will probably get his 5,000 men and a French blessing to kick the English out of his country.’
O’LiamRoe sat down. ‘Meanwhile,’ continued Lymond, ignoring him, ‘Robin Stewart has confessed to Warwick, and Warwick has repeated to de Chémault, the names of the other men in the conspiracy. One of them is Lennox: a fact which Lennox has most strenuously denied. The other is the man we are after. I knew it, every sign pointed to it, but I must have Stewart’s confirmation. It isn’t in writing yet; but once in France …’
Lymond paused, eying the ceiling. ‘The last thing Stewart wants is to afford Thady Boy Ballagh the chance of covering himself or anyone associated with him with glory. Once in France, he has plans, I take it, for the direst sort of retribution. Hence the scattering of these passing favours. Lennox will warn him, of course. Stewart’s probably laying wagers, the bastard,’ said Lymond, laughter aflame in his eyes, ‘on who’s going to kill whom. Is that fair?’
O’LiamRoe cleared his throat. ‘You go too fast for me. Stewart named two men. One was Lennox, and he’s denied it. Who was the other?’
Lymond rose, and O’LiamRoe watched him come, walking like a cat over the polished floor, his hands clasped, his fair head tilted, his face grave. There was no trace of a limp, and a world of malice in his eye. ‘Oh, come, Phelim,’ he said. ‘You’ve spoken to Stewart. If he’s going to France for your sake, he’s surely bequeathed you some of his handsomer secrets.’
And the Prince of Barrow was silent, for Lymond was perfectly right. He knew, and had known since leaving the Tower, that the man behind the conspiracy was John Stewart, Lord d’Aubigny, Robin Stewart’s own captain—the foolish sybarite who was thrown into prison and then inadequately soothed; the man with whom Robin Stewart had quarrelled, and through whose wiser, subtler, clever English relatives the whole wasteful business had probably started.
Part Four
THE LOAN AND THE LIMIT
The law of loan among the Feine: A loan with limit; viz, Yield me my property after this limited day. A loan without limit, its time not tied or determined, is the right of him who takes it. For the world even is the loan of a house to man; for from this is the world: God gave it to thee. Thou gavest it to me. Until God shall reckon whose right it is, I shall not take it.
I: Dieppe: Illegal After Screaming
II: Angers: Boarshead and Apple
III: Châteaubriant: A Bed-Tick Full of Harpstrings
IV: Châteaubriant: The Price of Satire
V: Châteaubriant: Proof Without Love or Hatred
VI: Châteaubriant: Satin and Scarlet
I
Dieppe:
Illegal After Screaming
She is free to the man with whom she has made an assignation until she screams, and after she screams. The man with whom she has made no assignation is safe till she screams; but it is illegal after screaming.
ON FRIDAY the 14th of May, Francis Crawford and Phelim O’LiamRoe, Prince of Barrow, took ship for Dieppe,